Many cultures around the world place special emphasis on dreams as a means of explaining the unknown, as a tool to guide decisions and life choices, or as a connection with another world. What do Baha’is believe about dreams? What do they signify?

Abdu’l-Baha once suggested to pilgrims that there are three kinds of dreams: true vision dreams which requires no interpretation because they are reality; dreams that requires interpretation in order to separate false thoughts from spiritual discoveries; and confused dreams, in which the same circumstances exist in the dream as occurred during waking life: Continue reading →

One of the interesting features of the Junior Youth Spiritual Empowerment Program (JYSEP) is the fact that the arts are used to explore the various concepts presented in the series of books the particpants go through. While the use of the arts is something which happens organically and the participants themselves are encouraged to come up with artistic ways and ideas to explore these concepts, sometimes sharing ideas of activities can help to get things going.

So if you’ve got a junior youth group and are looking for some more ideas of activities to help you jump-start those creative engines, here are three ideas we’ve used with our junior youth groups which are a lot of fun and may help! Continue reading →

We’re thrilled that after four years online, we’re reaching more readers in more countries than ever before. In fact this year we’re reaching up to a thousand visitors a day from almost every country in the world.

One of the big changes this year was the launch of our new gallery of Baha’i-inspired videos. It’s proven to be enormously popular and is a beautiful way to showcase and highlight some of the amazing media work from around the Baha’i community. That’s why we’ve dedicated this year’s birthday post to a celebration of the top ten videos from the year. Continue reading →

Every year, on March 21st, Baha’is from all over the world celebrate the festival of Naw-Ruz, after nineteen days of fasting. Based on the Badi Calendar, Naw-Ruz is the first day of the Baha’i New Year.

Apart from being a time of joy and celebration, Naw-Ruz, which means “New Day”, also signifies renewal and change. Naw-Ruz, and the nineteen days leading up to it, are a period of deep spiritual significance for Baha’is.

We’ve compiled a list of 8 posts (from Baha’i Blog and some other sources) relating to Naw-Ruz that might help you better understand the significance of this Baha’i Holy Day.

There are some people whom, when you cross their path, you can immediately tell that they’re passionate about everything they do. Whether it be their work, their faith, their service, their family or their art, they pursue it to their utmost, and Sonbol is one of those people.

Sonbol is a New Zealand based singer and songwriter, and in fact her husband played a big role in my family’s life, as it was him who told my parents about the needs in Papua New Guinea, which then resulted in my family moving to Papua New Guinea and living there for 20 years, so I’ve always been profoundly grateful to them for this.

I first heard Sonbol perform about 20 years ago while I was studying in New Zealand, and our paths have continued to cross in different parts of the world over the years. She’s produced several albums, and the last time I saw her, we were both passing through the US about a year ago, when she was on her way to Prague with Tom Price to record her new album with the Czech National Symphony Orchestra.

Sonbol has now finished that album titled Sea of Mystery, and so I decided it was time to catch up with Sonbol to find out more about her, her music, and her new album. Continue reading →

During the Fast, I often find myself contemplating my diet – more often than not, with a mouth full of saliva as I watch the clock tick closer and closer to sunset!

It is a time as good as any to reflect on something we, as a society, are making increasingly complex as the years roll on: our diet. It seems that there is a new fad diet every couple of years and everyone you ask has a varying opinion about the best diet for your health (or the “fastest way to lose ten pounds” as it is often titled by the media).

But what do the Baha’i scriptures say about health? What do the central figures of the Faith recommend regarding our diet? As Baha’is, we look to the Baha’i Writings to guide us on all matters of life. But how much are we guided by the Writings as to what we put into our mouths three or more times a day? Continue reading →

Since we launched Video here on Baha’i Blog, it’s quickly become one of the most popular parts of the site – showing that Baha’is are interested in all types of media. We’re always on the lookout for ways to serve the community better, so we’ve taken what we’ve learnt and created another new section of Baha’i Blog that we think you’ll love. We’re super excited to announce our new Audio section! Yaaaay! Continue reading →

Force, the old standard, is losing its dominance, and intuition, insight, glimpses of cosmic consciousness and the spiritual qualities of love and service in which woman is strong are gaining ascendancy. And you see that this new epoch is an age in which masculine and feminine elements of civilisation are becoming more evenly adjusted. Man and woman are as the two wings of the bird of humanity and this bird cannot attain its highest flight until these two wings are equally strong and equally poised. One of the important teachings of the Baha’i Faith is that women should be regarded as the equals of men and should enjoy equal rights and privileges, equal education and equal opportunities. Tahirih had to die for these ideals but today our task is to live for them. – Martha Root

To commemorate International Women’s Day, which falls on 8 March, I would like to honour a remarkable woman who lived a century ago. Her radical life was not only significant then but remains profoundly relevant today. She had passion, determination, guts and grit running through her veins. A warrior for the emancipation of women. A force to be reckoned with.

A life tragically cut short at the age of thirty-six, she was the first woman suffrage martyr. Put to death by strangulation, her immortal words ring through the ages:

You can kill me as soon as you like, but you cannot stop the emancipation of women.

Those who know me, know that the period of the Baha’i Fast is my favourite time of year. I find that it is a time to exfoliate myself, to get rid of the husks of nonsense that seem to wrap themselves around me throughout the year. It gives me a chance to remind myself that I have willpower, and that I can strengthen it. Fasting gives us the chance to remind ourselves of our true nature, to reconnect with the world, and with ourselves. You train yourself to be content and come to realise how much you have, by ‘not having’.

This year is going to be a little different for me. Scratch that. Might be a little different from me. Scratch that. A lot different for me. Scratch that. I don’t know what it’s going to be like because I have never been in this position before. At the most basic, during the period of the fast, one does without food and water between sunrise and sunset. This year, during the fast I have to learn to do without my mother – she passed away in June last year. Continue reading →

Ayyam-i-Ha is a multiple-day Baha’i festival that is joyously celebrated in countries and territories all over that world. It typically falls around the end of February and beginning of March (with the recent worldwide implementation of the Baha’i or Badi calendar the exact dates of Ayyam-i-Ha shift and move within the Gregorian calendar).

Now let’s briefly look at what Ayyam-i-Ha is, what it means, and how it’s celebrated: Continue reading →

Baha'i Blog is a Half Light Media Project

Baha'i Blog is not an official Baha'i site and is purely an individual initiative operating as a not-for-profit entity. Any sites linked to or opinions expressed are only those of the editors of the blog and are not necessarily those of the worldwide Baha'i community. The official Baha'i website is: bahai.org.